


Bellyache

by GalekhXigisi



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Drugs, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Past Drug Addiction, Trans Diego Hargreeves, Trans Klaus Hargreeves, Transphobia, Withdrawal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-12-18 10:15:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18247793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalekhXigisi/pseuds/GalekhXigisi
Summary: Diego always checked up on Klaus, once every three months, to be specific, but now it's so much more apparent than ever when he gets a call out of the blue, a warry voice supplying that he was his brother's second emergency contact and that the first was already on scene.





	1. Chapter 1

Life never went as expected. That was so painfully known by every member of the Umbrella Academy, student and not. Things would  _ never _ be the same that they had been years ago when they were a family of seven siblings and three caretakers, not five distant siblings, two shady adults, and a caretaker not programmed any other way. The family had their ins and outs, ups and downs, all that. They were a fucked up family, yes, but a family altogether. 

 

Two of the siblings were twins. It was odd, considering that out of all the children born, only two were actually twins, those two being rather close. None of the others shared that bond, but the raven locked sibling seemed to be friends with everyone whenever he could. He was outwardly friendly and ready to die for his siblings at any given situation, had almost died for them multiple times. Those times hadn’t been close to current, no, they had been years ago, but they had happened none the less. He had even died for one of them, only to be resuscitated and confused that he wasn’t dead. Things had been wild with Klaus and he was seen as the worst of the family, the lying junkie that could  _ “see ghosts,” _ though no one actually had any proof of that. They didn’t exactly believe him, but the two shady adults sure as Hell did. They had made Klaus’ life a torturous Hell. 

 

Now, though, Diego is getting a scoop of that torturous Hell. He’s only getting it because the other is back so suddenly, invading his quiet life. The phone rings for a second time before he picks up the phone. Diego calls a soft, “Diego Harris, may I ask who’s speaking?” He hadn’t checked the number, it was just some random number that he couldn’t recollect in his mind. 

 

There comes a voice on the other side, one that’s a tad bit shaky and worried. “I’m Elise Myers, with the Union Way Hospital. You were the second emergency contact for Klaus Hargreeves.” 

 

Panic rises in his throat. He wasn’t the closest with Klaus, no, far from it. Closest went to either Ben or Vanya. His own twin sister was pretty close to him and he had no doubt that she was his first emergency contact. He had always watched for drug overdoses on the radio, sought him out once every three months to just check up on him. However, a few years ago, the other had gone missing so suddenly that it had taken over his life, worry and guilt clawing at him. Despite that, he had never found a single death labeled like his brother in the least. He panics, asking, “What happened? Is he alright?” Diego had already jumped up, ignoring Patch’s look of worry. She was still glued to her spot in front of him, confusion looming over her features. 

 

“He seems to have been starving before Vanya Hargreeves found him. She insisted we call in case this is his last few days.” She trails off, her worry clear as can be. She does, thankfully, list off an address for him before they mutually hang up. 

 

“What’s going on,” Patch asks him, her brows furrowed. 

 

“Something’s wrong with Klaus and he’s in the hospital. Vanya’s with him, though.” 

 

Her brows shoot up. “He’s been missing for years.” 

 

“I know, Patch. I’m clocking out, but keep me updated on the Gleeson case, got it?” He grabs his coat off the back of his chair, waving to her as he rushes out the door. She doesn’t dare stop him in the least. Her worry still sits everpresent. He silently agrees to text her updates as commonly as he possibly can. 


	2. Chapter 2

Diego rushes into the room he was directed into, finding Vanya holding Klaus’ hand. Her thumbs rub over the backs of his sickly thin hands. He looks so painfully pale and thin, worse off than when Diego had last seen him five years ago, when he and Vanya were sitting in a coffee shop, happily laughing and leaving a comforting buzz in the air. A third person had been there, but Diego had no idea who. He thinks that maybe it was one of Klaus’ friends, but he could never be sure.

 

He skids into the room, successfully making Vanya jump. She yelps, a light shattering instantly. He doesn’t even start on the question he was going to ask, instead of looking at the burnt bulb. The girl, however, just pats the seat beside her, inviting Diego to sit.

 

“We have a lot to talk about if you want to be here for Klaus’ recovery,” she supplies, “And I mean actually _being here._ Not once a month visits. If you just want that, leave already.” Her voice is solid and commanding, giving him absolutely no room to fight against it. Vanya clearly sees no sense in his attempt to stay in her brother’s life while only hanging around the tiniest bit. “If Allison wants to do that, good for her, neither Klaus nor I want in our lives. You’re either in for the long haul or out for good, got it?”

 

Diego has to thing out his options. It’s a lot to process within a short span of time, but he supplies without actually thinking. “I’m in. What happened?” He doesn’t give her room to back out, either. He wants to be in his brother’s life. Never before had he been so invested, but holy shit did he now want to. He wanted to fucking be there, to know what’s been going on for the past five years. They were twenty-four now, having escaped six years ago. Diego wants to know what in the fuck he missed.

 

He was in for one Hell of an update. “Well, for one, I have powers. And Klaus has really powerful ones, too.”Diego’s eyes bulge and questions bubble. She doesn’t give him a chance to ask them. “When he first got out, he was a junkie, we both know that. Everyone knew that and no one had any proof that he _actually_ was able to see the dead. We were all cruel to him. Dad, Ben, and so on. Each and every one of us didn’t even consider how he made him train or anything.” Her anger seems to boil, but she takes a deep breath and forces it down. “How did he make you train?”

 

Diego’s brows furrow. He has to take a moment to collect himself. That sure was one damn opening sentence with a lot of punchlines. “Forced me under water and held me there as long as he could,” Diego eventually releases. He had gone days without food at times, held in confined quarters the entire time he slowly starved.

 

“And what _exactly_ were you scared of?” She asks intently.

 

“Drowning,” he releases again. “He made me face it head on.”

 

Vanya purses her lips, nodding. “Now, what _exactly_ was Klaus scared of? What did he always talk about being scared of when we were little?”

 

Diego feels bad for taking more than just one moment to think out an answer. Eventually, though, he does answer. “Death, dying, ghosts, the dark…” There were a few more to list off, but those were the most prominent ones, the ones that would make the most sense in this conversation. “What did-”

 

There’s a soft groan, one coming from the person lying in the bed. He groans once against, pulling his hand away from Vanya’s so that he can wipe his face and yawn. He doesn’t stretch though, just partially parting his eyes lids, speaking a weak, “Shut up, Ben.” He lulls his head over, staring at Vanya with wide, puppy eyes. “Fuck… I did it again, didn’t I?”

 

“Yeah, Klaus, but it’s okay. We’re getting better at this.” She smiles softly at her brother. “I… I called Diego this time, though.” Vanya moves out of the way to display the other sitting behind her, who nods in acknowledgment. “Hope that’s okay with you.”

 

“The more the merrier,” he hums, sighing. Half-lidded eyes stare at the two. His responses are slow and far from calculated, slurring the tiniest bit. “I’m so sorry, V.”

 

She shakes her head. “No apologizing, Klaus. We’re getting through this and we’re going better, got it?” Diego’s impressed with her patience. Last he had had a full conversation with her, none of them could last more than a sentence or two with him without getting mad, no matter how serious he was or not. Yeah… yeah, they _were_ pretty cruel on him. She smiles at the one they always claimed to be the youngest, despite him actually being a tad bit older than them mentally. “Would you be able to manifest Ben or is that too much right now?”

 

Klaus’ brows furrow as he squints at a place in the corner of the room. Something flickers, just a figure, but it falls. He looks like he’s about to cry as he slowly shakes his head. “No. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I can’t-”

 

Vanya hushes him quietly. “No, no, Klaus, no apologies. You don’t have to. It’s okay.”

 

Diego thinks over when they were children, when he was only five years old and just discovering his power. He had joked about the ghosts, supposedly normal as could be. They all thought he was normal until Diego had sputtered a random fact he had heard Five mention.

 

_“Did you know that most laughs on television were actually recorded years ago? That means that we’re probably listening to dead people laughing.” He smiles, calm as can be with his attempt to freak out his brother._

 

_Klaus snorts, turning towards the other with a wide, calm smile. “Oh, Two, that’s so funny, but I already hear dead people laughing.”_

 

 _Diego was jarred out of his mind from that. He pauses. “Hey, Four,” he speaks, earning a hum as the other turns to him, nonchalant as ever. “What the_ fuck _does that even_ mean,” _he whines, almost sobbing in concern and confusion. The other hums, confused as to why it seemed to upset Diego so much._

 

No one believed him for months, for years, even. Hell, they still didn’t believe him until he blabbed about two of the nannies Vanya had killed when she was young. It was only two out of the possible thirty-seven, so at least most of them left the home peacefully. At least, Reginald believed him, but the others were skeptical, not caring for it. When he had brought up Ben after his death, the others had told him to fuck off, to choke and die, to even kill himself because they just didn’t want their dead brother brought back up.

 

However, as soon as Five disappeared, they had yelled at him for answers, each of the siblings ganging up on him. Their anger poured out. So upset with his disappearance. They hadn’t cared when he had burst into tears, sobbing that he had already attempted to summon their sibling, both sober and not. Even when he had a breakdown, when he overdosed so many times, they were all so full of anger with him. It shook Vanya to the core, knowing that two siblings were already gone and a third one was seeking an escape any possible way he could get it. The others had boiled with anger that he had chosen such a pathetic way out, that he supposedly could see the dead but not see Five, the one who had mattered. They didn’t care that it was Ben. They wanted Five and they would get him no matter what the consequences were. It had destroyed their family.

 

Now, though, it aids him in repairing things that were so fucked up then. Neither Vanya nor Klaus are on horrible substances that were ruining their bodies and mentalities. They were fixing up what their father had broken, that had left them all in horrid pain and a disgusting mindset that would bring on their own self created demises. Nightmares had fueled them for so long.

 

Vanya quickly manages to calm down Klaus, which is honestly an amazing quality in all. It worries Diego somewhat. They have such a close relationship now, with Klaus’ hands wrapped around hers. Years ago, they all had grown so painfully tired of his antics. He had constantly needed some form of touch to know that they were actually real, that they weren’t just ghosts or hallucinations. Everyone had shoved him off by the age of eight, aside from Ben, who went to nine and a half. For their tenth birthday, they got the present of knowing that Klaus was actively detaching himself. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t understand what it implied. It meant Klaus was using drugs and rather fiercely, no remorse for his own body. They stopped blocking the ghosts by the time he was thirteen, still letting in the worst of them that he couldn’t will away with a shot of heroin or twenty-three. Despite all of that, no one had actually taken him seriously.

 

“What can I tell Diego and what can I not,” Vanya asks softly.

 

Klaus takes a full minute to process her words. He hums, thinking it out. “Not training, please? Not war training. War is fine, but no training.” He’s so sure to clarify, even in his tired, delusional state. Diego raises a brow, worry filling him. “Continue on with your… Con… Conver…” He pouts.

 

“Conversation,” Vanya finishes with a patient smile. He nods with a calm smile. “Okay. I was explaining to him what you went through training as a kid. I was just about to tell him about it.”

  
Klaus flinches. “Go for it. I think I’ll fall asleep soon.”

 

She nods once again. This time, though, she turns towards Diego. “As I was going to say, Dad had a weird training schedule for Klaus. He would lock him in a mausoleum or feral ghosts, experimented with killing him and resuscitating him, had him call on the dead and make them physical, and so on. He drugged him when he turned seven and kept going until Klaus escaped. He was on the same medicine I was on. It numbs emotions, takes them away, actually. Any strong emotion meant everything was physical. Drugs and shit were his escape. If he was high, he couldn’t see them. Being sober meant that they were physical and there to hurt. So, Dad started drugging him, got Allison to rumor him into thinking he was just able to talk to them, just like he did with me.”

 

“Jesus fuck,” Diego mumbles.

 

“That isn’t even half of it,” Vanya huffs. “He and Pogo would lock Klaus up with ghosts for days on end without anyone aside from ghosts or food until he finally decided it was time to be pulled out.” Klaus stiffens somewhat. “That's lead to the issues we have now. Klaus sometimes forgets to eat for days at a time and doesn’t notice until he’s starving. But he’s getting better. A lot better than he was before the war.”

 

“War,” Diego echoes.

 

“Yeah. Klaus,” she turns to the other, “is it okay to tell him?”

 

After thirty seconds, he nods. “Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.” He makes a small gesture, one that’s weak. “He can know.”

 

The girl nods to him, turning her body back towards Diego. She makes sure to keep her hand laced with Klaus’. “Well, we were sort of connecting again when we turned nineteen. Klaus was finally getting sober, I was finally going off of Dad’s medicine because Klaus suggested it. He stopped all the medicine he was taking after he got out and encouraged me to do the same. He can sort of levitate now, too, which is pretty cool, but not the point here. There’s a lot that Klaus can do.”

 

She frowns as a nurse walks by the doorway, pausing in order to not spill the beans. Diego doesn’t comment, just waiting out the pause.

 

Vanya continues, “We were moving in together within the first year and helping each other. Klaus wanted to do something with his life and help people, actually get somewhere with what he was doing, with his powers. So, he signed up for the army and got deployed pretty quickly. He served a couple of terms before things got sour.” Seven has to pause once again for her own sake, inhaling slowly.

 

“S’okay, V, I’m here,” Klaus whispers from behind her.

 

She smiles, her free hand coming to pat the top of his own. He offers his own groggy, drained smile. “Right. He was sort of kidnapped and tortured for a few years before being rescued.” She’s so clearly attempting to be light with the subject, but her pain is clear, making Diego and Klaus both flinch.

 

“Ben, no,” Klaus suddenly whines, glaring at the wall. “Hush, Hush. I know you want to talk, but I- Hold on then, Ursala.” He pauses, pushing himself up in the bed, much to Vanya’s dismay. A figure flickers in front of them, just barely visible, but the figure smiles widely.

 

“Okay, can you guys hear me?”

 

“Holy shit,” Diego speaks, standing up suddenly.

 

The figure, Ben, suddenly flickers out. Klaus whimpers. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, no, Goddamnit.” Tears trek down his cheeks, mixing with eyeliner. His tears turn grey. “Damnit, damnit, damnit.” He chokes on a sob.

 

Vanya laces her finger with both of his hands, clearly full of pity as she moves from the chair to sit by the bed. “Hey, Klaus, breathe. Your heart rate is going up and we can’t have that, remember? Ben can talk later, it’s alright. We can wait. Diego isn’t leaving us again.”

 

 _Again._ It makes Diego sick to his stomach, the subtle reminder that he had done it before and that both feared he would do it again. Their entire family had trust issues for reasons like this exactly.

 

Vanya calms him again. It takes just a little longer, but telling him that if he keeps going like this that a nurse may come in gets him into a forcibly calmed state pretty damn quick. He then comments sleepily about something Ben said a couple of things, but it’s lost in a slur of words that neither understand. Vanya gently kisses his forehead, reminding him that he can sleep, that sleep is even welcome in this situation. He voices that he doesn’t want to sleep, just agreeing to silently listen. He says Ben agrees to do the same.

 

“Well, when he got back, there was a lot of… _issues,_ to say the least. There is, of course, PTSD. He stayed there for almost five years and was tortured for three of them before being rescued. He was also taken off his medicine, which meant ghosts were an _incredibly_ common occurrence.” She huffs out a sigh. “Forgetting to eat is out most common, as you can see. And there’s a lot more, but, that’s the one that really seems to matter. We’re taking it one step at a time, you knowing this is a step, too.”

 

Diego nods slowly. “Okay… So, that was a lot to ingest and I think I may need a day or two, but I’m glad you’re alive.”

 

Klaus snorts almost immediately. “I’m not, honestly.”

 

“We’re attempting to have a different mindset,” Vanya correct him. She isn’t angry, but it’s clear she’s been trying so hard to get it into his brain. “You’ve got to at least attempt, Klaus. I know it’s hard, but you’ve got this.” She smiles to him, supportive despite his past tendencies.

 

This was certainly something Diego wanted to become a part of, wanted to help with.


	3. Chapter 3

The two siblings stand outside of Klaus’ hospital room, holding their own separate cups of shitty coffee. She looks a little sickly, standing there in the faded hall light, tinting Vanya’s skin a yucky yellow that Diego has no doubt he mirrors. Klaus had fallen back into a comatose state only minutes beforehand and the siblings had needed to get out of there, both fearing that they would accidentally wake him once more. They couldn’t do that, didn’t want to. Thankfully for them, a nurse had given them the announcement that he would be out of the hospital within the next two days. He was recovering much quicker than she had seen any others so close to starvation. 

 

“Klaus found me,” Vanya mumbles as they move to sit down on the bench just outside of the room. She scoots over to invite Diego to sit. He does in silence, hands still wrapped around his coffee. “He had stolen our medical records from Dad and then stolen some from city hall’s archives. He said it was super easy to steal ours and he even had copies of everyone else’s records. We actually have the same mother.” She smiles into her cup, taking a soft sip. 

 

“You two are actually twins,” Diego concludes with a raised brow. He hums softly. “That makes a lot of sense, honestly. I don’t see how you two look so different, though.” 

 

Vanya sets her cup down. “When he straightens his hair, we actually do look a lot alike. I look just like our mom, apparently, and Klaus looks just like her brother. It’s honestly really weird. I have no idea how that worked. Neither did Did, or her, or really anyone.” She offers a small smile. “Our powers are supposed to be similar, but with drugs suppressing both of us, no one could actually tell. Did you know that Klaus actually had his powers since he was a baby? Before any of us could actually interpret that we had powers?” 

 

“How’d you guys find that out?” He keeps his brows raised, turning more towards Vanya. Her lips are pulled taut over her teeth as she suddenly purses her lips, looking guilty as can be. Something tells Diego the instant he sees that expression that it was something they all should have caught onto before the age of five when they had actually found out about his powers. 

 

Vanya softly lets out a hum. Klaus had given her the line that it was okay to tell Diego everything once he had said he  _ actually _ wanted to be in their lives now. It was all just a matter of her actually getting the words to say her thoughts and Diego to process it. She takes a moment to think through what she’s going to say, a tactic that Diego himself knows well enough. She eventually presses on. “When we were younger, Klaus would always wake up from nightmares, say things were grabbing at him and screaming his name. Dad even has pictures of his wounds when he was a baby that none of the nannies could explain. There were burns and scratches that didn’t even look like they could’ve been caused by the nannies.” 

 

Diego nods along. He remembers those wounds well enough. Klaus had been the last to announce his powers, but he was technically the first to discover them. Those wounds had graced his body after naps, each and every time. When they were only three years old, Klaus would wake up sobbing, scratches running along his arms that looked new, sometimes even like they were self-inflicted. At that time, they couldn’t have been. He would sob as one of the many nannies would patch him up, carefully away of the burnt on fingerprints around the scratches. Some even looked like symbols that no one could recognize, not even Reginald nor Pogo, who were both rather interested in a diverse amount of social studies. Not even Grace, with her systems filled with knowledge, could find out what they meant. Klaus had once said they were markings to a language that  _ The Horror _ knew, which Ben had supported all the way. They meant  _ The Seance, _ his name, and  _ The Sacrifice, _ as well as a few other things that got lost in memories as well as translation. 

 

“Those were all ghosts, all actually touching him. He gets burnt every single time, as we’ve found out. Every single ghost that intends any sort of harm or vengeance at all leaves a mark. Ben… he doesn’t leave any traces at all. We didn’t even realize how bad it had actually gotten until Klaus got back.” Diego vaguely remembers the scars on Klaus’ arms, though they had been distant memories compared to how entranced he currently was with Vanya’s words. “We can’t exactly blame him for anything. We were horrid to him when we were younger and I’m honestly surprised he didn’t shatter a few windows with how angry he was. I killed people when we were kids when I got angry because the tea kettle was too loud and everything tasted the same, all bland and gross.” 

 

“You killed people?” 

 

“A bunch of nannies, remember? When I was first- Nevermind. I’m not the point here, Klaus is. We’re here to focus on him. I’m not important right now.” She waves him off, dismissive suddenly. Her eyes close for a moment before she’s scooping up her coffee to take another slurp. Diego’s brows raise, mostly because he knows the coffee takes like absolute  _ shit. _ She places it atop the garbage can beside her instead of on the bench this time, though she looks like she has no intention of throwing it away. “We were talking about it when he first got back. He and Ben had been talking about it for years before and we didn’t even realize anything until after he was the Hell out of everything. 

 

“Oh, yeah, back to him finding me. He  _ did _ find me. He came to me after being sober for two months. I thought he was joking around when he told me to go off my medicine  _ and _ that he had was actually sober. He found me after one of my concerts and  _ begged  _ me to hear him out. I seriously thought of just leaving him there, getting a restraining order or something, but he just kept insisting I listen. He was  _ crying _ to me, just begging that I actually listen to him for once because the only person that ever had was  _ Ben _ and Ben was dead.” She looks ready to sob. 

 

Guilt once again washes over Diego for what felt like the millionth time that night. In reality, it was probably only the tenth, at most, but he still couldn't shake the feeling. It stewed inside his stomach and made him want to vomit. He needed to text Eudora, explain to her what was going on, but that thought was deep in the back of his mind, clouded over by guilt and underlying anxiety that he felt brew every single time he heard that a junkie had overdosed. He always made those his special cases, even if he was technically part of the homicide unit with Patch. It boils in his throat just like heartburn would. 

 

Vanya wipes her eyes just before the tears streak across her face. “We were really so mean to him. We didn’t even attempt to hear him out  _ once. _ Even Mom thought there was something wrong with him. When he sobbed like the world was ending, I  _ had _ to do something to help him. I thought he was still stoned, but he was sober and desperate for someone to actually listen to him. I brought him home and he cried for hours because I ever  _ considered _ listening to him. He cried himself to sleep and we talked in the morning.” 

 

“Was it really that bad,” Deigo asks, brows furrowed. He reiterates, “Were  _ we _ really that bad?” It has to be  _ we _ because all six of his siblings treated him the same, though Vanya was much more distant than the others. Luther and Allison were a bit harsher, yes, but that didn’t mean that the other four weren’t horrid on their own. 

 

Vanya nods, frantically wiping at her face now. The memory is tough on her, they both know that, but she clearly wants him to know it. “Yeah. We were, actually. He was clingy at first like he was desperate to prove that I wasn’t a dream version of myself. I know that shouldn’t have hurt as bad as it had, but I broke down. It just hurt so much to think that my dream self was nicer than my real self to him. I have no idea how many times he cried about something like that, and I’ve never asked before, but he’s… He’s told me that-” She has to stop, words getting broken by a choked sob. Vanya wipes her face again. “He’s told me about what it was like before all this when he was still on drugs and convinced that even if he was happier and number, we still couldn’t stand him. He dulled himself down for  _ years _ and we all supported the depressed, suicidal junkie that couldn’t seem to actually get anyone’s genuine affection.” 

 

Diego opens his arms, a silent invitation for a hug. He had never been a touchy-feely kind of guy, which Patch knew well enough about her partner, but his sister needed this, needed a hug and a shoulder to cry on. She accepts, forehead pressing to his shoulder as she sobs softly. There’s the faint sound of rain that covers the nightly traffic, but it’s honestly welcomed compared to cars and passersby that yell off their drunken asses at nothing. He holds Vanya, letting her slowly simmer down, the weather doing the same until it’s the soft pitter patter of a drizzle. He blames it on his sister, and her look seems to tell him that it actually  _ was _ her. After a rough twenty-seven minutes of Diego patiently rubbing her back and letting her cry, Vanya calms and pulls away, sniffling passively. 

 

“You can control the weather  _ and _ blow out lightbulbs,” he teases, faking amazement and wonder on the last bit. She does light up, though, snickering and swatting at his shoulder. It’s not aggressive in the least, simply a calming act of sibling  _ “hatred” _ that neither actually harbored towards each other in the least. They were forming a bond between each other once again, one that was pure and filled with the best of intentions. It’s obvious that Diego wants back into his siblings' lives, to make a genuinely  _ good _ difference. He sure as Hell wanted a little slice of their  _ “normalcy,” _ or whatever the Hell else it could be called, even if Vanya still prefers a presence with her over a voice and Klaus prefers simple contact over simple words. 

 

Vanya smiles calmly. “I can control a lot of things. Klaus can, too. He has all my powers, plus his entire Seeing The Dead stuff.” Her mood brightens somewhat, but it’s clear she wants to get back on the matter at hand. She peaks though the blinds of the window that peers into her brother’s hospital room, finding him still passed out, though now Ben sits with him, looking somewhat dazed. It’s clear that Klaus isn’t having a nightmare, then, which is good, better than she suspected. The hospital always gave both of them the creeps. 

 

“Mind telling me what’s going on in that big brain of yours?” 

 

Vanya jerks her attention to Diego, who passes a concerned glance her way as he takes a sip of the shitty hospital coffee. “Yeah, sorry. Ben’s watching Klaus, now, and he’s manifested, which means Klaus isn’t having a nightmare and he’s already regained a lot of strength within three hours. He can’t die, not really. That comes with the perk of healing super fast, too.” 

 

“He can’t die,” the taller echoes. 

 

The prime number smiles, nodding. “Yeah. Apparently, he’s seen God. Klaus said She doesn’t like any of us Hargreeves all that much. It’s some apocalypse crap. With all the overdoses, too, Klaus has successfully become a thorn in God’s side, so She isn’t exactly the happiest with either of us.” She shrugs as if she didn’t just drop a giant bomb on her brother. “And either Klaus or I am supposed to end the world, so that’s pretty cool. Every time he dies, we get updates on how things are going and we’re pushing it back further every day.” 

 

“That’s a lot, V,” the taller mumbles more into his coffee than to the girl, who just shrugs in return, offering a soft apology. 

 

“Sorry, I know. Klaus can explain that better than I can. He’s died a lot and God is sort of just… Watching over him, I guess? Both of us? We’ve never really gotten many answers from her, but Klaus can’t die for now. It’s been a lot for us, too, but we’re slowly getting there. Even Ben is helping us with it.” 

 

Diego nods along, figuring that if he doesn’t understand now, it will eventually be explained  _ later. _ For now, they have all the time in the world to talk, to get their shit together, even if the world won’t actually last forever, as it’s just been revealed by his  _ [as he considered,  _ **_younger_ ** _ ] _ sister, who seems as calm as can be. He chucks that up to the fact that she’s been helping him through this for years now. Instead, he decides to ask, “Do you mind me asking about the medicine and stuff?” 

 

Vanya seems to actually perk up at that. “Yes! Yes as in you can, I mean. Sorry, I get jumbled sometimes.” It’s a statement she puts out there without any actual shame. He prefers her like this over anything else, honestly. “Klaus bumped himself off drugs when his boyfriend, Dave, started to convince him that he loved him,  _ actually _ loved him. I’ve honestly never seen someone so in love with another, and that’s compared to any and all romance movies I’ve binge-watched since I got out. Klaus actually  _ really _ loves chick flicks, too. He was head over heels for him and apparently said, and I quote Ben and Klaus  _ both _ here,  _ ‘Once I get off crack, I’m going to make you my boyfriend.’” _ She laughs as soon as Diego snorts at that statement, coffee spewing out of his nose. She laughs loud and long, which is a giant refreshment compared to everything else that’s gone on. 

 

“I’m sorry,” she laughs out, passing a couple of napkins to Diego, who was cleaning coffee off of his face now. 

 

“S’okay,” the taller replies smoothly, though it’s a tad muffled by his hand and the napkins. 

 

Vanya continues to smile but goes back to her story. “He stopped anything and everything the literal instant he realized he loved Dave. Honestly, it’s pretty endearing, considering that it was the only thing that kept the ghosts at bay.” Her smiles seems to falter, slowly turning into a frown. “He lost Dave a year and a half into the war when things were getting rough. I honestly think he was Klaus’ soulmate.” 

 

That spurs on a sad memory for Diego, one that really shouldn’t have made him sad, but sure as Hell did. It  _ really _ did. They had just been twelve, new and going through puberty. Klaus’ features were still soft, Diego’s the same/ They were too soft, not sharp like Luther, Ben, or Five’s faces were. They were both going through the motions that was gender dysphoria. Diego confesses first, mostly because he had no one else to tell. Everyone was away on a mission, even Vanya coming to supervise. Only the two and their mother had been left at home. Diego softly whispers  _ I think I’m a boy _ to the other, purely out of boredom. The two were both stoned as could be, laying on Klaus’ bed with the seventh blunt in the last twenty minutes getting passed between them because Klaus practically had an unlimited stash. Diego had never asked where he got the money for it and Klaus never offered to supply him with that information anyway. 

 

_ Yeah, me too, _ was Klaus’ reply. The next morning, Diego awoke with a hangover and his brother tapping his shoulder, just as stoned as he was the night before. He offered a brown paper bag with seven pieces of fabric in them. The other opened it and frowned, yelling at the other because  _ Why would you buy me a fucking bra after I told you I wasn’t a girl, you bitch? _ The other looked so incredibly hurt but had left without another word. 

 

It had taken Diego three weeks to actually look back inside the bag. He had avoided the other the entire time. However, when he opened the bag once again, he found a note with instructions on how to wear the clothing what they did, and basically an entire guide on how to use and wear a binder. Diego had cried, but he didn’t apologize. He didn’t even bring it up with Klaus, just moving through the halls with a binder situated on his chest just a few months before Mom had given him proper testosterone and so on. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea if Klaus had ever even gotten the proper hormones from their father or if it was black market shit. He had never asked and he knew the other would bind with bandages instead of genuine binders because their father hadn’t supported him in the least. The  _ Family Disappointment _ didn’t deserve to transition, as their father had said on multiple occasions. 

 

In hindsight, Diego probably should have at least thanked his brother for the binders, even if he had no idea where they had come from or how Klaus had even known his chest measurements. He probably knew the measurements from when they were too stoned to even remember much of their conversation, but the other hadn’t paid any attention to that, instead pointing fingers and yelling first. That had hurt Klaus, Diego knew, but he could never find it in him to actually apologize or even bring it up. 

 

He cringes at that thought now. “I…” He doesn’t know how to respond. For one, Klaus had an entire boyfriend for  _ years _ that he was just now learning about,  _ after _ Dave’s death. For two, even  _ Vanya _ thought that they were soulmates, which typically meant marriage and children in most traditional homes. It meant that Klaus could finally start up that genuine family he had blabbed about a few times when they were kids, one where the children weren’t punished for simply breathing air in the wrong places. 

 

Vanya holds a hand put. “He never wanted the family to meet him… He didn’t want Luther, Dad, or Pogo finding out, specifically. Not sure what he has against Pogo, but you know how Dad and Luther can be.” He  _ did _ know, he had a personal grudge with both of them, one that was far from easy to hide in front of the two jackasses. “He said that he wanted me to meet him, maybe you, and maybe even... Even Five, but it’s clear that none of us really can meet him much now. We were friends before they left for war, but that honestly feels like an eternity ago.” 

 

Diego suddenly pauses, thinking back to dates. He suddenly asks a question he never thought he would ever ask before. “Vanya, did you cause that big flood and tornado a few years back? The one that took half the city with it?” 

 

The girl tenses, heaving out a soft sigh and nod. “I did, yeah. And I also made that giant storm last year that electrocuted and killed three people.” She doesn’t get specifics, but it does make sense, given that it had been near Christmas and the storm had shown up out of nowhere, taking over the entire town without remorse. That meant that it had been near the time Klaus had gotten back, returning to his sister. There were a  _ lot _ of things that they needed to talk about, which was exceptionally clear now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hair is curly atm and looks pretty and smells good but I'm super tired and my room is hot so I'm going to sleep, despite knowing that this chapter should have been rewritten/edited and it wasn't and also that my hair will be knotted and brushed into fizz in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

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